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Sunday, July 10, 2011

Jaco Beach Costa Rica

After our stroll around the main strip through downtown Jaco, my boyfriend and I turned down one of the side streets leading to Jaco Beach. Despite it's fame with tourists, this 3-kilometer-long beach is not particularly appealing. The sand looks more like dirt, and swimming here is dangerous (as evidenced by the riptide warning signs at the intermittent access points). Additionally, the river estuaries at each end of the beach are said to be polluted. My boyfriend, who works as a Medical Director for the Costa Rican Ministry of Health, says that the main cause of pollution in Jaco Beach are the hotels that dump raw sewage into the ocean. Although the Ministry of Health inspects and attempts to shut down the operations of these hotels, the problem is hard for Costa Rica to control for some reason.

In spite of the health risks, we did see people swimming and playing in Jaco Beach on the day we visited. As for us, we enjoyed the beach from the shore, soaking up some sunshine and taking in the ambience. Looking out towards the water was relaxing, and the view of the ocean and the surrounding headlands was nice. Looking back behind us, was not quite as appealing, mainly due to the garbage littering the area and the ugly painted cement wall-structures separating the buildings and hotels from the beach. However, if you can look past these things, you'll appreciate the view of the growing infrastructure and high rise developments along Jaco Beach, which indicate how much real estate sales and commerce seem to be booming here.

Sad to hear the Hotels dump raw sewage into the ocean; I've also heard that only one of the residential Sewage Pumping companies actually empty at the Treatment Plant but because it costs them to do so the other companies dump all there waist into the ocean